Gartner



March 24, 1964 K. GARTNER 3,125,816

SKIING BOOT Filed Feb. 16, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet l WWW INVENTOR.

March 24, 1964 Filed Feb. 16, 1962 K. GARTNER 3,125,816

SKIING BOOT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

United States Patent Kurt Giirtner, Koflaeh, Styria, Austria, assignor to Schuhfabrik Koflach F. Herunter 0HG., Vienna,

Austria Filed Feb. 16, 1962., Ser. No. 173,782 Claims priority, application Austria Feb. 22, 1961 Claims- (tCl. 36-25) In the manufacture of shoes, the uppers are connected to the insole by a seam. For this purpose the insole has on its underside a so-called lip, which is defined by an oblique cut extending along the periphery of the insole. It is also known to make the insole of plastic or rubber and provide the lip in the form of a molded rib. The insole must then be connected to an intermediate sole. Because the lip or rib depends from the insole, a cavity will be formed if the intermediate sole has a flat top surface. This cavity is filled with a filler, which may consist of an inserted piece of leather or of felt, cork, rubber cork etc. This provision of the filler requires manual work and particularly in the case of heavy shoes involves the disadvantage that surface irregularities may develop in the shoe itself when it is worn and may have undesirable eifects because the insole is unevenly loaded by the foot. In shoes having a soft, flexible sole, it is known to make the filler integral with the intermediate sole by giving the latter a stepped cross-section. In this known design the intermediate sole consists of soft, flexible chrome leather and the actual outsole is secured, e.g., adhesively connected, to the underside of this intermediate sole.

To ensure a positive connection to the ski, skiing boots should have a sole which is not flexible but as rigid as possible. For this purpose, steel inserts, e.g., have been provided in the sole of skiing boots. Such steel inserts, however, are not suificient to impart to the sole the required flexural rigidity, and if such steel inserts are so thick that they actually increase the fiexural rigidity of the sole they will detrimentally increase the weight of the skiing boot. For this reason it is preferable to impart fiexural rigidity to the sole of skiing boots by giving the sole an appropriate thickness. The leather soles used for this purpose, however, will absorb moisture, whereby their flexural rigidity will be partly lost.

It is an object of the invention to provide a skiing boot in which these disadvantages are avoided. The skiing boot according to the invention is essentially characterized by an intermediate sole which consists of a deformationresisting plastic and the cross section of which is stepped to form a filler which is integral with the intermediate sole, and by an insole which consists of a deformationresisting plastic and which has a preformed lip rib, which surrounds the filler of the intermediate sole and the height of which corresponds approximately to the height of the filler-forming step of the intermediate sole. The lip rib of the insole preferably surrounds the filler-forming step of the intermediate zone so as to leave a clearance required for the seam which connects the upper to the insole. As the filler is formed by a portion of the intermediate zone and the thickness of the intermediate sole is increased at this point by the size of the filler, an intermediate sole of high fiexural rigidity is obtained. The preformed lip on the undersideof the insole acts as a stiffening rib, which stiifens the insole. Because the rib of the insole embraces the filler-forming step of the intermediate sole, the insole and intermediate sole interlock so that the composite sole is stiffened to have a bending strength which is higher than would correspond to the bending strengths of the intermediate sole and the insole, considered individually. Thus, the invention provides a skiing boot having a sole of extremely high fiexural rigidity 3,125,816 Patented Mar. 24., 1964 although it has no inserts. The outside edge of the fillerforming step of the intermediate sole and the inside edge of the lip or rib of the insole are suitably defined by sur faces extending at right angles to the plane of the sole, whereby the interlock between the intermediate sole and the insole is improved.

The intermediate sole may have cavity-forming recesses in its portion covered by the insole, more particularly in its filler-forming portion. Whereas such cavities, which are preferably rectangular in cross-section or of substantially rectangular shape when viewed from above, will virtually not reduce the bending strength, but result in a saving in weight and provide for a good heat insulation. These cavities enable the manufacture of a sole which in spite of its high bending strength is lighter in weight than where the usual filler is employed.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is diagrammatically shown in the drawing.

FIG. 1 is a top plan view showing the intermediate sole. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional View taken on line II- H of FIG. 1 and showing the intermediate sole. FIG. 3 shows an insole. FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on line IVIV of FIG. 3 and showing the insole. FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view showing a skiing boot having an intermediate sole as shown in FIG. 1 and an insole as shown in FIG. 2.

The intermediate sole 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 consists of a deformation-resisting plastic, such as a suitable polyvinylchloride. In its central portion, the intermediate sole has on its upper side a step 2, which forms the filler. In this portion, in which the thickness of the intermediate sole is increased by the filler or the steps 2, the intermediate sole is formed with recesses 3 and 4 to reduce the weight and to improve the heat insulation. The outside edge 5 of the filler 2, however, is continuous. The depth of these recesses 3 and 4 is larger than the height of the step which forms the filler. This results in a substantial saving in weight. The recesses 3 are separated from each other by longitudinally and transversely extending ribs, 7 and 6, respectively.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show an insole 8, which is suitable for being assembled with an intermediate sole as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The insole 8 consists also of a deformation-resisting plastic, such as a suitable polyvinylchloride, and is integrally formed with a rib or lip 9. The insole may consist of two layers, the lower layer 8 and the rib or lip 9 consisting of one piece of the high-strength plastic, such as polyvinylchloride, whereas the upper layer 10 may consists, e.g., of a softer plastic or leather, which is highly compatible with the foot. In order to stiffen the rib or lip 9 the connection to the sole 8 is sloped or bevelled at the outside of the rib or lip at 11. At 12 the seam is stitched.

An intermediate sole as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and an insole as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 are assembled in a skiing boot as shown in FIG. 5. The outside contour of the filler 2 is somewhat smaller than the inside contour of the rib or lip 9 of the insole 8 so that a clearance 13 is formed between the filler 2 and the rib or lip 9 to accommodate the seam 14 whereby at least one upper 15 and the lining 17 are sewn to the insole 8, more particularly, to the rib 9. As is known, in most instances, a skiing boot includes two uppers arranged one within the other with the same being laced separately. For simplicity, only one upper has been illustrated in the drawings. The outside edge of the filler 2 of the intermediate sole 1 as well as the inside edge of the rib 9 of the insole 8 are confined by faces which extend vertically to the sole face, thus forming a good interlocking of the insole 8 and the intermediate sole 1. The height of the rib 9 corresponds to the height of the filler 2, and the insole 8 and the intermediate sole 1 are in close engagement with each other.

This enables a direct adhesive connection between the insole and the intermediate sole on the surface of the filler 2. Since the insole 8 and the intermediate sole 1 consist of plastic, a perfectly durable adhesive connection may be provided between them with plastic adhesives. An outsole 16, e.g., of rubber, is adhesively connected to the intermediate sole 1. 18 is the welt, through which the seam 14 extends and which is connected by a seam 19 to the intermediate sole.

What I claim is:

1. A skiing boot comprising at least one upper, and a sole member defined by an insole of deformation-resisting plastic material, an intermediate sole of deformationresisting plastic material and an outsole, spaced vertical members projecting upwardly from said intermediate sole and being integral therewith to form cavities therein, a vertical rib member extending downwardly from said insole adjacent the periphery thereof, and said vertical members and vertical rib member extending substantially the same distance above and below said intermediate sole and insole, respectively, to provide a filler for said boot.

2. The skiing boot as claimed in claim 1 wherein the outside edge of said filler is continuous and formed by one of said vertical members and a seam secures said at least one upper to the rib member of the insole, and said rib member is disposed around said continuous outside edge to provide an annular recess for said seam.

3. The skiing boot as claimed in claim 1, wherein said vertical members and said vertical rib member are disposed at substantially a right angle to the horizontal plane of said intermediate sole and insole, respectively, said rib member being substantially rectangular in crosssection and having inner and outer sides, and said outer side of said rib member being provided with a bevelled surface where said rib member joins said insole for stiitening said rib member.

4. The skiing boot as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cavities are covered by said insole and are of greater depth than the distance at which the vertical ri'o member extends downwardly from the insole.

5. The skiing boot as claimed in claim 1, wherein said vertical members are defined by longitudinally and transversely extending ribs thereby providing cavities which are substantially rectangular.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,993,208 Cohn Mar. 5, 1935 2,356,808 Allen Aug. 29, 1944 2,546,296 Braun Mar. 27, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,150,290 France Aug. 5, 1957 

1. A SKIING BOOT COMPRISING AT LEAST ONE UPPER, AND A SOLE MEMBER DEFINED BY AN INSOLE OF DEFORMATION-RESISTING PLASTIC MATERIAL, AN INTERMEDIATE SOLE OF DEFORMATIONRESISTING PLASTIC MATERIAL AND AN OUTSOLE, SPACED VERTICAL MEMBERS PROJECTING UPWARDLY FROM SAID INTERMEDIATE SOLE AND BEING INTEGRAL THEREWITH TO FORM CAVITIES THEREIN, A VERTICAL RIB MEMBER EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID INSOLE ADJACENT THE PERIPHERY THEREOF, AND SAID VERTICAL MEMBERS AND VERTICAL RIB MEMBER EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME DISTANCE ABOVE AND BELOW SAID INTERMEDIATE SOLE AND INSOLE, RESPECTIVELY, TO PROVIDE A FILLER FOR SAID BOOT. 